Russia steps up its involvement

Artillery barrages fired from Russian territory, U.S. says

New York Times

Published 10:08 pm, Friday, July 25, 2014

Photo: GENYA SAVILOV

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An armoured personnel carrier flying Ukraine's flag (L) and a Ukrainian tank, from a convoy of the Ukrainian forces, drive towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk, in the region of Lugansk, on July 25, 2014. Russia on Friday called the latest US accusations of Moscow's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict a baseless "smear campaign" and said Washington bears responsibility for the bloodshed. AFP PHOTO / GENYA SAVILOVGENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images less

An armoured personnel carrier flying Ukraine's flag (L) and a Ukrainian tank, from a convoy of the Ukrainian forces, drive towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk, in the region of Lugansk, on July 25, ... more

Photo: GENYA SAVILOV

Russia steps up its involvement

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Kiev, Ukraine

Russia has stepped up its direct involvement in fighting between the Ukrainian military and separatist insurgents, unleashing artillery attacks from Russian territory and massing heavy weapons along the border, Ukrainian and U.S. officials say.

Russia's aim, the officials say, appeared to be to stem and perhaps roll back gains made by government forces, who have been retaking rebel-held territory and trying to seal the border. They say Russia's accelerated intervention raises the prospect of more direct and more heated fighting between Ukraine and Russia.

U.S. officials, citing military intelligence, including satellite images, warned that Russia appeared to be preparing to arm the rebels with more high-powered weaponry than it has previously supplied, including tanks, armored vehicles and powerful Tornado multiple rocket launchers.

Among the gains of the Ukrainian forces, following days of intense fighting, was the recapture of Lysychansk. The city had been a rebel stronghold, posing a strategic obstacle to government troops pressing through the Luhansk region from the north and west. The Ukrainian military called in air support as its ground troops struggled to expel insurgents from the city of more than 100,000 people, on the right bank of the Seversky Donets River.

The reports of increased hostilities suggest that, rather than scaling back its military intervention in Ukraine after the Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down by a missile that the United States and Ukraine say came from Russia, Moscow is instead devoting even more firepower to the pro-Russian separatists' cause, in the face of international condemnation and toughened U.S. sanctions.

A NATO military officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the comments were about sensitive intelligence matters, said by telephone, "The United States has shared intelligence information with NATO today regarding strikes that are occurring from within Russian territory, firing into Ukraine territory."

In Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, a military spokesman said Friday that Ukrainian troops were coming under increased fire from the Russian side of the border, and that the Ukrainian military had recently shot down three Russian surveillance drones. One was used to target a Ukrainian base near Amvrosiivka, which then quickly came under heavy rocket attack, the spokesman said.

Russia has repeatedly denied that its forces are involved in the fighting in eastern Ukraine and that it is supplying rebels with weapons and other equipment, despite a substantial body of evidence.